The breathtaking NASA photo features the Galaxy D100 caught in a death plunge towards the galactic Coma Cluster. From the centre of the plunging galaxy spreads a long trail of hydrogen gas, extending an estimated 200,000 light-years. As the galaxy falls into the trap of Coma’s gravitational pull, vast amounts of stellar gas and dust escape D100. According to NASA, this incredible astronomical phenomenon began approximately 300 million years ago.
NASA said: “A long streamer of hydrogen gas is being stripped from the spiral galaxy D100 as it plunges towards the centre of the giant Coma galaxy cluster.
“This wide view is a composite of the Hubble Space Telescope’s visible-light view of the galaxy combined with a photo of a glowing red stream of hydrogen gas taken by the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii.
“The narrow funnel-shaped feature emanating from the galaxy’s centre is the red glow of hydrogen gas.
“This glowing tail extends for nearly 200,000 light-years, but the pencil-like structure is comparatively narrow – only 7,000 light-years wide.”
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NASA news: The long trail of red gas is escaping the plunging Galaxy D100 (Image: NASA)
NASA news: The galaxy is caught in the gravity of the Coma Cluster (Image: NASA)
The Coma Cluster is a large mix of more than 1,000 individual galaxies in the Coma Supercluster.
Together with the Leo Cluster, Coma can be found in the constellation Coma Berenices.
Astronomers estimate the cluster is located approximately 330 million light-years from Earth.
In NASA’s Hubble picture, just below Galaxy D100, is the neighbouring Galaxy D99.
D99 appears to glow red because it has lost its stellar gas, meaning it no longer produces new stars.
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Older and redder stars, on the other hand, populate the galaxy and give it its red glow.
This glowing tail extends for nearly 200,000 light-years
The same process will affect Galaxy D100 with the escaping red trail of hydrogen.
NASA said: “Hubble’s sharp vision uncovered the blue, glowing clumps of young stars in the tail.
“The brightest clump, near the middle of the tail – the blue feature – contains at least 200,000 stars, triggered by the ongoing gas loss from the galaxy.
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NASA news: The process is venting the stellar gas needed for new stars to form (Image: NASA)
NASA news: The Hubble Space Telescope takes breathtaking images from orbit (Image: NASA)
“The gas-loss process occurs when a galaxy, due to the pull of gravity, falls toward the dense centre of a massive cluster of thousands of galaxies.
“During its plunge, the galaxy ploughs through intergalactic material, like a boat moving through water.”
The stellar material then pushes all of the gas and dust out of the galaxy.
Once all of the material escapes D100, the galaxy will no longer have the ability to create new stars.
Some of the stars visible in the NASA photo are less than 500 million years old.
Quick facts about the Hubble Space Telescope:
1. The incredible instrument is operated by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
2. The Hubble flies over Earth at an orbit of around 340 miles or 547km.
3. The space telescope was deployed into orbit on April 25, 1990.
4. Hubble beams to Earth about 150 gigabits of raw data every week.
5. In orbit, the space telescope is hurtling through space at speeds of 17,000mph (27,300kph).
6. The space telescope was named after the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble.
7. Hubble completes an orbit every 95 minutes.
8. A fault in the telescope’s mirror threatened to cancel the mission after Hubble was already in orbit.
9. The Sun acts as a primary source of power for the space telescope and its 25ft solar arrays.
10. The telescope only measures 43.5ft in length and has a diameter of 14ft.